Tornadoes, floods leave at least 7 dead as storms rake across South

Ryan W. Miller / USA TODAY

Thursday

Apr 23, 2020 at 2:15 PM

Severe storms continued to roar across the Deep South on Thursday after floods and apparent tornadoes hit part of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana a day earlier, killing at least seven people and leaving thousands without power.

Parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle remained under tornado watches Thursday morning. The National Weather Service for Mobile/Pensacola warned of two possible rounds of storms Thursday. "Damaging wind, hail, and tornadoes (a few could be strong) are all possible on Thursday," the weather service said.

Cities such as Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama, were in the area at greatest risk for severe weather Thursday, the Storm Prediction Center said.

The anticipated outbreak of severe weather across Alabama, Georgia and North Florida could linger into Friday in the eastern Big Bend region, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said.

From Texas to Mississippi, more than 150,000 customers were without power as of midday Thursday, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.

The Storm Prediction Center recorded 28 preliminary reports of tornadoes from Wednesday and Wednesday night. This number may change as storm surveys are completed in the days ahead, AccuWeather said.

In southern Oklahoma, a trailer worker's body was found a quarter mile from the factory where he worked after an apparent tornado slammed the town of Madill in Marshall County, according to Emergency Management Director Robert Chaney.

A second person died in Madill when the tornado blew his vehicle off a highway: The body of Chad L. Weyant, 46, of Madill was found in the median and his vehicle in a nearby field, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.

At least three people in Texas were killed near Onalaska in Polk County when a suspected twister hit around 6 p.m. Drone video from the area showed smashed homes and debris strewn about.

In Louisiana's Rapides Parish, at least one woman was killed near Woodworth as a storm passed through, sheriff-elect Mark Wood said late Wednesday. Homes were damaged and destroyed, and downed trees and power lines slowed first responders getting to the area.

In DeSoto Parish, at least one flood-related death occurred after a man reportedly lost his footing when attempting to retrieve his trash can from the water near a drainage ditch, sheriff Jayson Richardson said. The current carried the man about 50-60 yards, where the body was recovered.

“There was some pretty extreme flooding here in Mansfield," the sheriff said. "Water like I’ve not seen in many, many years, if ever. Basically the water rose really fast and we had to rescue some people out of homes. I think we had about 20 or so homes that people were flooded in.”

At least one tornado was confirmed overnight near McComb in Pike County, Mississippi, the National Weather Service in New Orleans reported. Several other possible twisters were reported.

The storms moved through southern Mississippi into Thursday, bringing strong winds, flooding and hail. Flash flooding continued in central Mississippi, particularly in Hinds and Rankin counties.

The latest storms follow tornado outbreaks earlier in April that killed more than two dozen people and caused millions of dollars in damage across the South.